Robert W. Woodruff Library MADAME IyUCINDA SMITH YOUNG. THE SEVEN SEALS. "A SINNER'S DREAM" "CONVERSION" "DANIEL IN THE LIONS' DEN" "MEDI¬ TATION" "DISTANCE OF FALLING" "VISION OF THE JUDGEMENT" "VISION OF AFTER THE JUDGEMENT" By Madame Lucinda Smith-Young. PHILADELPHIA, PA. J. GORDON BAUGH, Jr., 1903 Copyright, 1SH S. By Luc in da Smith-Young. PREFACE. Dear friends: Whereever you. may be, who read this Book, think more of yourselves and less of the writer; and believe me that this is not a book of notions; neither is it any idle thoughts of my own. But it is what the Lord has told and shown me in dreams and visions. He never spoke to me as a man, but in such manner as I could understand. You who may read this book may think it very strange, and I must say it is something strange; for most of these' things I shall write I never heard or read of, but gained them throiigh dreams and visions. I praye,d to the Lord to give me knowledge of His greatKing- dom; for I have a great desire to know more about the world above me; more than I care to know about this in which I now move. I shall write this book regardless of the consequences. Christ commanded me to write these, my observations, of the Holy Spirit, and divide them into seven subjects, and call each subject "Seal," and then combine them all into one book. I was commanded three times in this manner to write. The first and second times I took no heed at all because I did not understand or know anything about the "Seal," as I never read the Book of Revela¬ tion. But Christ spoke to me the third time, and when I heard his voice 1 became as one dazed, and felt oppressed of a great burden. So dazed was I, and so heavily did the burden oppress me that I thought once to commit suicide". But on reflection the thought came to me. There is no pardon for -self-murder. . So I laid the axe aside, and prayed the Lord to give me the names of the seals. Christ answered, saying: "Write the dreams you had in 1887,"and call it 'A Sinner's. Dream:' Write the many things you saw and heard during the forty- two days of your punishment for telling a falsehood, ^nd acting with contempt in your dream, and call it 'Conversion/ Write the dream you had of Daniel in the Lions' Den. Write about the day you spent in Meditation. Write the Distance of Falling. Write the vision vou had of the Judgment. Write what shall happen after the Judgment." He also said: "These things are works in miracle; a few will believe and understand them because they are strange things." Then when 1 heard these things I asked, "How shall all these tilings be written? Christ answered, saying: "Write, and I will add unto your wisdom more wis¬ dom." So I began to write on the 22nd day of February, in the year of Our Lord 1892, and finished in 185)3. On the 27th day of November, 1887, I was made to believe that my soul was redeemed from Hell, and soon after that 1 fell into doubt. In February, 1888, I gained faith in the Lord, and in the year 1890, I saw many things and was many days observing them. I commenced the 3rd day in November, 1890, about 10 o'clock P. M., and Avas in this condition until the 27th day of the same month. I was married May 2, 1895. but my mind was not contented. 1 had a desire to do more than writing. I was a member of a little mission Sunday school in Lambertville, X. J. I taught a class of small children. We also organized a Savings Fund among them: but 1 thought light of these things; so I sought the Lord, and the burden of my prayer was: "O Lord, I have linished the writing, and now I have nothing to do in the world." While walking up Main street one Sunday, in 189(5, the Lord answered my prayer, saying: "As long as there are little children to gather into the Sunday school you will find work enough to do." From that day I began with a willing heart to do those things set before me; for it is mv soul's desire to obev the commandments of God. LUCINDA YOUNG. "A Sinner's Dream," the First Seal, was published separately in 1897; ^ecpiifl Initio}!, }901; Third Edition, 1902. A RTXXETTS PPiTCAM. ]UY CHILDHOOD. T am the second daughter and the third child of Frederick and Sallie Smith, natives of Powhatan County, Ya. I was given the name of Lucinda after my grandmother. Mother says .1 was very, peculiar looking when a baby; still I believe the same care was given*me as was given my other sisters and brothers. Mother says she had but little trouble on my account until I began to walk and talk. I soon found where she kept her bread, and then got into the habit of asking for bread every time the thought carjie to me, and that was very often; it was enough to vex any mother. I was very full of mischief, and liked to meddle with everything, and used to ask a great many questions. As soon as I was large enough my oldest brother and I would often gather chips for mother. We used to go to the neighbors' houses to play, but strange to say our oldest sister, Elizabeth, never played with us; she evidently did not like our way of playing. I took some of the children's toys one day while playing and ran home with them; but mother very soon found it out, and then she scolded me, and told me it was steal¬ ing, and bade me take them back to the children. I felt too ashamed to give them to the children, so I stole to the side of the fence and slipped them through a crack, so that the children could find them, and then ran back home, and pretended to mother that I had done as she told me. As soon as mother found out that my inclination was to steal she tempted me. She knew that sugar was well liked by me; so she filled the sugar dish half full of sugar, and placed it on a high shelf, and then went out to carry father's dinner; having to go about a mile. I being very little over four years The Seven Seals. old, had no idea how long it would take anyone to go a mile and return; besides mother left a little work for me to do, so I hurried through it, thinking that I could get some of the sugar before she returned. The shelf was beyond my reach, so I put a little table beside the shelf, and on it placed a chair; then another chair beside the table to serve me as »a step. You see all this took much time. • At last, all difficulties surmounted, and I had begun to eat sugar, when I heard mother's voice, and being too small to jump that distance, there was no way for me to get down in a hurry; so mother came in, and caught me in the act of taking the sugar. USTo one can imagine my feelings. Mother took me down from the table, then went out, and returned with a little bunch of willow switches, with which she whipped me. While so doing she sang the old hymn, "I Got Glory and Honor." For that I did not care; but I did wish her to cease that thrashing. When she had made an end of flogging she made me thank her for it, and then promise that I would never take anything again that did not belong to me. Mother and father had often told us the evil of steal¬ ing, and other sinfulness. When we were little children we did not have many toys, because father thought it a sin to spend money for toys when there were so many children in the world hungry. So we made ourselves contented, and sought other forms of play. We first attempted to play with the buzzing bee that sipped the honey from the beautiful flowers blooming in our garden; but we found out that the little bees were quick to anger, and would bite; so it was not long before- we looked for other plajnnates. About the yard was a great number of ants and their houses. We also found a number of other little bugs that did not seem to be 6 The Seven Seals. as industrious as the ants or the bees, for they stayed among the grass blades and flowers where they made themselves contented. They were not stowing away food for the winter like the bees or the ants; so-#e took for our insect friends the busy little ants. We would follow them for yards and yards at a time, to find out what they would get. Sometimes their labor would be rewarded with a crumb of bread, and again with a grain of sugar. They would sometimes go more than two yards in search of food. My opinion is, that the ants have an instinct somewhat like the tiger; for it is said that the tiger can smell things miles away. The ants being so small, we reduce the miles to yards. I have seen the ants, when starting out in search of food, turn first one way and then another; soon they would get in a straight line, and march away, and on returning each of them would bring something iri their mouths, and stow it away in their granaries. In this way they would work the live-long Summer preparing for-the cold Winter days. Sometimes we would find stupid ones among them, which we would take away from the rest, and build around them a wall of wet sand; then we would feed them with bread and water. Often, too, we would scatter erUmbs nearby that the other ants might not have far to go in search of food. ■ My brother acted as doctor for the sick ants, and said every one that died had the pneumonia. He really thought so because they lived in the ground. We would take the dead ants and lay them out on a piece of plank* and call it a cooling board. Brother would then get a piece of pine bark and make a coffin for them; after which we would trap them in a piece of cloth and lay them in it. One day we had two anti to bury, and brother preached the funeral; afttr which 7 The Seven Seals. we carried them away and buried them. We called that piece of ground the "Ants' Burying Ground." Some of the ants would get well, and we'd turn them out again. One bright afternoon we went out in the yard to play, and a few girls and boys came to see us, and we told them all about the ants; then we began, to talk of one thing, then another, and they told us about a little bug their mother had told them of that went by the name of "Doodle Bug," and was found in the woods under old. pine trees, and that had a den in the ground like the ant, only it 'was more sensible to sound, and if we would put our mouths down close to the hole and call the bug by its name in this manner.: "Doodle, doodle bug," it would come to the top of its den. When they had finished telling this story we were so eager to go to the woods in search of this bug and to see if we could not find out more about it. So we got our hats, and off we went to the woods, and there we found a great number of old pine trees, and we looked under them for the bugs' den and found several. And we put our mouths very close to the hole, and called them in a manner we were told. Presently we saw the sawdust, that served as a door to the dens, move a little; but still continued to call, and in a few minutes the bug made its appearance. It had a dark brewn coat and two bright eyes and four fuzzy legs. It came out and stood still, as if it came on business; so we talked to it for a short while, and after which we said: "Back-a-back, doodle bug," and repeated this two or three times; then the bug began to back back in its den, until it was out of sight. So we left the woods and started for home. As we grew older, we realized that we had learned two very good lessons from the insects: from the bug we learned obedience,. and from the ant, industry. 8 The Seven Seals. About this time we began school, and under a very good teacher—Richard Bass, bv name—a well-known white gentleman of Powhatan County. I went to school regularly, but was veiy dull, and did not learn very fast. T was about five years old, and my brother Fred six. I began with the Primer, and continued with it for two session,s. "I never cared much for books, but spent most of my time wondering about the insects, the birds and the sun, moon and stars. Many cold winter days during my school hours I would begin wondering if the insects had a warm place to stay or not, and whether they had anything to eat. I also thought it cruel in the Lord not to give them a nice warm place in which to stay. And I wondered tlie same way about the fowls of the air. I used also to wonder if the sun had any place in which it could rest from its day's shining. I wondered in the same way concerning the moon; but the stars puzzled me more than anything else, because there were so many of them in the heavens. They reminded me of little children; for they were so bright and seemed to be so thoughtless. I often wondered if they had any mother or father, as little children have. But when I saw the moon in the sky with the stars, I wondered if it wasn't their mother and the sun, their father. The closing day of our first session at school was fine. Many of the children had to speak, but as I was so dull I could not commit a speech to memory. We also had a picnic, and mother fixed for us a large basket full of things for the picnic and took it to the school. Besides, she made each of us girls a pretty, nice white dress, with low necks and short sleeves, looped with pink rib¬ bon ; and for brother, she made a little white linen suit, and pinned a pink ribbon bow on his left shoulder, as ke was on© of the speakers; his recitation was, "Try Me, 9 The Seven Seals. Father; Try Me." But I cared nothing for the speak¬ ing, because when I got my white dress on with, so much pink ribbon about it, I thought myself the belle ot the school. ISTow, do not think that was the. first pretty dress I ever had on, for mother used to dress us every afternoon, and when it was fair she would take us out walking. During vacation I went up to Green Yard, a place about six miles from home, to stay with my Uncle William and his wife. Uncle William did not have any ebjk.ren, and I suppose they were lonesome, for they wanted me to stay with them all the time. I could not do that, but I stayed with them about three years. My Uncle Mat. Brent used to teach me my lessons every night when he .came home, during vacation. He said 1 was very hard to learn. My aunt said that I thought too' much about the boys. She believed it, but. my aunt did not know my mind, for I never told anyone my thoughts. The next season I went from my uncle's to school. I still studied my little Primer, and about the closing of the second season I commenced to study the First Reader; so you see I advanced very slowly. I also went to Sabbath school along with a number of my playmates. Several of my companions took heed to what they heard at school, and got very interested about, their souls, and in a short while were converted and joined the Church. It troubled me to think that they had become greater than I, for I was just as large and near the same age. At last I went to my aunt and had a talk with her about it, and she gave me some advice, and told me how to pray. But when I was a. child I always thought my way was the best. But for a time I prayed the Lord to have mercy upon me" a sinner, as my aunt had told me. She had also said, if I was in earnest the Lord would freely forgive me 10 The Seven Seals-. my sins; but I began to think that, those words were too simple, and I decided to tell God a falsehood, for I thought that it was impossible for Him to know every¬ thing. How simple I was! "But then," I thought, "how silly it is to keep repeating, 'Lord have mercy upon me a sinner.'" So I constructed a prayer after this fashion: "Lord have mercy upon me, and forgive me of my sins. Lord I am motherless and fatherless, and I have no one to care for me." But this was a foolish lie, for I have a good kind mother and father to this very day. I told -this same story days and months; at last a year passed by, and the Lord had not redeemed my soul from Hell. But I did not forget to tell Him that same old falsehood. After living with my uncle and his wife three years, I went back home to live. By this time I was between nine and ten years old, and stayed home until I was eleven, when I went to live with a white family of Chesterfield County, Va., by the name of Camack. I went there with the understanding that I would be cared for, and receive such instruction as Mrs. Camack could give me. This she did in such a way that I have always regarded her as the best white friend I ever' had. And although there may be many others just as good as she, I have never met one. But I have met so many white people that seemed to have such a hatred for the colored race, it puzzles me to find a cause for it; for I learn that the same' G-od made us all. Mrs. Camack very often would call her children and me around her, and would read the Bible to us; and we would ask her questions as she read. Then she would stop and explain the chapter as far as. it was in her power she would also tell us the danger, of living in sin; and how she felt when God redeemed her soul, how she wanted 11 The Seven Seals. to live for Christ. Her impressive words went home to my heart, and lay upon me as a burden, for I was a sinner, and would not obey. I thought my way the best, and that was telling God a story from the time 1 was seven years old until I was seventeen. I ought to have been ashamed of myself to commit such sin, for I was just about ten years telling this same old story. In the year of 1887, one day, I began to think how foolish I was spending all my childish days telling Christ a story. One night, I fell asleep and dreamed, but I don't remember the day or month. MY DREAM. I fell asleep and dreamed that I was walking through a large pasture. I saw there a large number of beasts, and among them a woman. She seemed busy milking. I stopped there with her a while, and a large crowd of people passed by, and I asked the woman whence came the crowd, and whither it was bound. Her reply was that she believed they were on their way to a church; so I followed on behind until the end of the pasture was reached, where they entered through a gap into another pasture. In that pasture was a large herd of swine, and a man with them in a fold, called a sheep folding gap. The crowd of people was a crowd that had wandered from the fold, and when they found them¬ selves going wrong they returned. The man that I saw was dressed in a strange looking garment, and was standing still; but he began to speak, saying: "My name is Jesus, and I am He that shall judge the world." Then the crowd of people went to Him, one by one, and wrote their names upon His garment. I also went to Jesus to write upon His garment, but He turned from me, sa}ring: "Write not upon My garment, but leave Me; thou art damned/' I turned from Jesus and said: "I care not whether I write upon Thy garment 12 The Seven Seals. or not; there is the ball rooms and other places of l'rolic to which I'll go." So away in haste I went to a dressing room, where there was a lot of people dressing in gay costumes, and I began preparing myself for a ball. I was dressing for hours and hours, but did not get ready after all my trying. At last I left the dress¬ ing room and went away wondering, until at length I got in sight of an old building, and on entering, found it unoccupied. I went up a flight of winding stairs to the top story; there I had a view from a west window across the western part of the world, and while I looked out of the window, I saw a dark cloud rising in the west, and then the sun ceased shining, nor did the Moon or stars give any light, and an awful night was over all the land. Then I heard a loud voice in the clouds, that sounded like the rumbling of many thunders. After this I saw in the; clouds a man's face flaming red -like fire, and eyes flashing like lightning, and I awoke in a fright that did not leave me until day. At breakfast time I told Mrs. Camack my frightful dream. She was much surprised at it, and said she had never heard of a sinner dreaming such a curious dream before. I also told it to Rev. Dabney Sovet, a colored minister of Chesterfield County, Va., and he said that it was a very curious thing for a sinner to dream. But he and Mrs. Camack both told me that it was best for me to repent of my sins, and well I knew it. But I felt ashamed to pray to the Lord and ask Hi in forgiveness after telling Him a falsehood for ten years; besides, I had treated Him with so much con¬ tempt in my dream by telling Him that I cared not whether I wrote upon His garment or not. I shall ever remember that dream. For days and days after that dream I continued sorely troubled; I could get no peace at all; it seemed as though all things around me 13 The Seven Seals. cried, "Unworthy," besides there was a steady knocking around and about my heart telling me to repent of my sins. About three months after that dream I left Mrs. Camack, and went with my oldest sister, Elizabeth, to the City of Manchester to work. My occupation was housework, and I liked the people whom I lived with very well, most of them were kind to me. I thought by coming to Manchester I would soon forget that dream; but, instead, it came fresher and fresher to my mind every day; but still I was ashamed to ask the Lord's forgiveness of my sins. Now, after I had been in Manchester about three months, I met with a colored, man there by the name of Harry Jenkins. He had but one leg, and walked with crutches. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of that city. When first. I met him, he said, "Good morning" to me, and then remarked that there were lots of deaths around us that morning; not less than four within calling distance. He then asked me if I knew anything about Christ. I told him that I knew nothing but what I had heard other people say about Him. Then he asked how many sisters and brothers I had. I told him that I had four brothers and four sisters. His next query was, "Are all of you. sinners?" I told him yes. "Humph,'" he replied, "you all must be a very sinful crowd. Are your parents sinners, too?" I told him no, that my father was a deacon, and both my parents often told me of praying, and the danger of living in sin. I also told him that I had ofttimes tried to pray, but it did not make me any better. Said he, "Maybe you tried and did not believe." "I don't know," said I. Then he said, "There is danger in delay; for if you die, and go to' Hell, and have been there ten thousand years, your ' damnation has but begun. Now, will you promise me J4 The Seven Seals. that you will try to pray again ?" I told him yes. As he was employed in the next yard.sawing wood, he turned to his occupation, and I left the fence, feeling v. tv >adly. After this T prayed the Lord to put me on the bed of"affliction so that I could pray and be converted; for 1 did not feel that- I could get converted while walking about, because 1 had tried so many times. To my sur¬ prise, it was not long after I had prayed thus before I was taken sick with something like a chill. I was taken ill on Saturday; on Monday morning, as I was too ill to work I left Manchester for home. When I got home I was so ill and weak that I sat by the fire and took no notice of my father and some of the Other children that sat there with me; my head was very dizzy, and at length I aroused and said: "Father, don't you know 1 feel just like people look when they are happy?" Father said, "You had better hush your foolishness, and try to pray." I then thought of Mr. Jenkins and of what I had promised him. I was shortly put to bed. I felt helpless and miserable, and my every breath was a prayer^ for I feared I was dying in my sins; and all my sins came clear before me, the falsehoods that t had told Christ, and pressed upon my iiuiul, and I besought the Lord to punish me for all these tilings, but redeem me from Hell. While in this state I screamed, and mother. came to the bed, and I told her that I wanted Jesus. She told me to pray for Him. With this she turned away and left me. No one can know how I felt when mother turned away from my bedside, and told me to pray for Jesus. I wanted her to help me pray, for I thought it was too hard to pray alone, for I felt that death was near at hand, and I was, oh, so ill. The doctor's medicine did me no good, nor did it ease my pains. Then I thought 15 The Seven Seals. of what I'd often heard the old folks say, and was, that each soul had to walk throng _ ■ si*adow of death alone. It then dawne UP, , mind that mother nor father could find y esus • Neither could they go with me through the s a death. Prom this I ceased to worry about t is wor , and asked Him to put my mind on Heaven, for wan 6 to learn something about it, and I wanted to learn something about the condition of a sinner. I had alwajs had the hu*k of meeting with people that would give me good advice. This was generally the old folks motto: "My child, be careful in choosing vour places to go, and the company you keep ; because a person is judged by his associates." They always told me to "Yield not to temptation/' I took all of this to myself, and while I was so ill all of those things came fresh to my memory, anil I began to think that if I must be so careful about my associations in order to yield not to temptation, it would be wise in every one to be careful who was seeking admittance to a world far better than this. I was anxious to get a thorough understanding concern¬ ing sinners and their repentance. While musing along this line I murmured my oft repeated prayer: "Oh! Lord, have mercy upon me a Hell-deserving sinner;" and soon I fell into a slumber, and had a vision of a tall woman standing at my bedside robed in a white garment. After a brief while she sat on the side of the bed, and loosed her hair, that fell over her shoulders f own into her lap. When she had done this she looked yhe knew all my thoughts. She then head wl°c ^ ^ 'u'a^ llPon her lap ; I did so, for my the old hvim! - fe'f8; Then she beSan to sinS Bridegroom comesI Ten Yir§'ins When the acquainted with tw I seem8' that I was well "A that, she very S00n began to sing IG IyUCINDA smith, before her series OF dreams. The Seven Seals. another that was strange to me. As she sang my fever began to abate, and I fell asleep, and I began to dream that she sang a wonderful hymn. She continued to sing, and there opened before me a little path about. three feet long and three inches wide; then she ended the hymn, and disappeared, and I awoke and told my father what I had seen. And then I slumbered again. In this vision I saw Jesus coming toward me from the West, and when woman was, and He told me that she was the "Virgin He got near enough I spoke, and asked Him who the Mary," and that the hymns she sung had made a path that would lead me straight from earth to Glory. "But," said He, "the path is narrow, and on each side are thorns and snares; and as my saints walk therein these thorns and snares will hang their feet. But such are the crosses and tribulations the saints will have here below." Again I awoke and told my father all I had dreamed. Again I slumbered. I dreamed that I was lying on a bed, and over me floated a beautiful cross and crown. The crown continued to float until it vanished from my sight, hut the cross came straight to me, and I handled it. It was of a dull, dark hue, and made of wood, and very small, but it, too, vanished away, and all was still around me; no one did I see, nor did I hear any sound. My thoughts then turned to Jesus, and soon I saw Him standing at my bedside in the form of a child dressed in white, and oh, He looked so full of sorrow. He looked upon me quite a while before He spoke, and I kept silent, for I was all amaze. I knew not what to say or do. He did not tell me his name, but I knew Him by His countenance, for the impress of His features were fastened on my mind. I wondered why He looked so worried, but I felt that He knew my 2 17 The Seven Seals. thoughts. I remembered the cross and crown, and I wanted to know more about them. At length He litted His hands toward Heaven, and said: "In My Fathers Kingdom I have a crown for you." I said, "Lord, when shall 1 wear the crown?" He answered: "When you come to live in My Father's Kingdom; hut I also have a cross for you." I asked: "Lord, what must I do with the cross?" He replied: "You must hear it." I asked: "And how, Lord, must I bear it?" "With faith, humility and prayer," He replied, as He disap¬ peared ; and I awoke and repeated all that I had seen and heard. My father looked at me pityingly, and told me to "Keep on praying, and ask the Lord to show you Heaven and its glory, and Hell with all its terror." I fell to praying, and soon to sleep. I saw myself going eastward, and while on my journey I came to a great white building, and seeing it I wanted to go in, hut saw no means of entrance, nor did I see anything of Jesus. So I came back and went toward the west and came to a square garden. I went in, and there saw the opening of a pit, and 011 the right side was a little grave about three feet long. Then there arose a man whom I learned was Satan between the grave and the pit. I then went to the pit and looked in. To my surprise I saw great Hames of fire rolling over and over, and in the midst of them were ihe souls of men and women burning. It was such an awful sight that I knelt and prayed. The burden of my prayer was: "Oh, Lord, Oh, Lord, redeem my soul from such a miserable hell. At length I arose and looked about me, and I saw Satan with a little shallow basket full of sooty little babies. lie told me to count and see if there were more than seven. I did so, and saw there was quite a number more than seven. He then shook the basket, and told me the second time to count, and see if there 18 The Seven Seals. was more than seven. I counted the second time, and there was yet more than seven. He shook the basket again, and told me to count, .and I did so, and there were but seven. He then said, "You had seven devils in your heart." Then I saw Jesus standing at the grave, and He took one of the little imps out of the basket and placed it upon me and it disappeared; and He said: "You had seven devils in your heart; I plucked out six, and left one to warfare with your soul to make it fit for My Father's Kingdom." Then I looked upon that little grave and said: "Lord, for what is that little grave?" He answered: "For you, if you can get into it." I thought how funny, for I was four feet and more, and the grave was only three feet. So I said: "Lord, it is too small." But He told me to. remove the top and try; but I still thought it so funny to take off the top of a grave. However, I went to it, believing that the Lord was full of wisdom. I put my hands to it, and the top came oif in a solid piece, and there was the yawning grave before me. I then stretched myself lengthwise the grave, but could not get in. So I said to the Lord, who still stood by, "I cannot get into it." So He said: "Replace the cover; it is not for you, for you have victory over death, hell and the grave." I then left that garden, and went toward the north Until I came to a much larger garden, with a high fence around it, over which I could not see. I went around it and came to the north side, where I saw a great big black door, but it was shut and bolted. On the door numbers of names were written with large red letters, and in t)/e midst of them was mine. I fell on my knees and prayed: "Oh, Lord, scratch my name from the door of hell." I then looked and saw Jesus standing close to me, and He took His finger and rubbed it 19 The Seven Seals. across the name and took it off, and said: "I have taken your name from hell's dark door and have placed it in the La7iib's fair book in Heaven, and tlie angels know it well." I then turned and saw that same basket of little devils, and Jesus went to the door and raised His foot and put it down again, and made an opening in which He thrust the six devils, and the opening covered over again, and Jesus stood over it, and said: "I have buried your sins at hell's dark door, and they will rise against you never more." At this my soul leaped within me for very jo\r. But yet there was one devil left to battle with me, and that- was one too many. I then continued my journey and left those things behind me, and I found myself standing on a railroad near its end, where yawned the entrance to the dark and dismal hell. I went close to it, and viewed it to the bottom, and there I saw Satan; in his hands was a huge pronged fork, with which he tossed the souls of the tormented, and great heat, first one way and then the other; their condition was awful. In the eastern part of this dreadful chasm was an immense wheel two thousand, nine hundred and ninty-nine miles in height. Christ said that this wheel turns -every thou¬ sand years, and. when it turns, it makes hell ten thousand times hotter than before. When I had wearied of view¬ ing hell, I sat on the west side of the railroad, and looked across. I saw Jesus on the east side. Then came a great host of sinful souls at breakneck speed down the road to hell, and Jesus caused a slope at the mouth of hell, and when the souls came on they made no stop, but slided in hell, full of all kinds of evil. Jesus said just as people live, just so they die; and some of the souls came on horseback, some running, jumping and. shouting, some dancing and stealing; some lying, and some of them breaking all of the Ten 20 The Seven Heals. Commandments. Then was my sorrow great, and I grieved for the fallen souls that were doomed to eternal punishment. I then left and went on a journey toward Heaven, and Jesus went with me. While journeying Heavenward I met three women dressed in black, and they murmtired as. they journeyed, but I understood nothing they said, hut Jesus told me they were souls that had turned back, and were on the way to hell. But I continued toward heaven, but knew not how it would appear. I had often heard that Heaven was a white house that sat on a high hill, and I wanted to see it just in that way; but God's way was different. At length I came to a river—called Jordan—over which was built a mansion. The waters of the river were very muddy. I saw a flight of steps leading to the door of the mansion, and when I reached them Jesus commanded me to mount them, but I was afraid to go alone. He told me the second time, and I obeyed, although I was full of doubt and fear. I counted not the' number of steps I took, but I reached the top, and Jesus stood at the bottom. At the top of the steps was a small yard of clay across which I started to walk, But I sank in the moist clay about a foot deep, and I could not move. When Jesus saw me at a standstill and could not move .either way, He commanded me to lift my right foot and press down my left foot; and when I obeyed He told me that I had put down Damnation and had taken up Salvation. I then went up to the door of the building, but the door was closed. Jesus told me to knock, and I did so, and the door flew open, and the Virgin Mary—the same I saw in the beginning—came to the door and said: "Whence came you?" I told her that I came from a world of wilderness. At that time Heaven was strangely silent. She then asked me if I got mired. I told her 21 The Seven Seals. that I did, and she said that I would not get mired again. Then was I welcomed into the mansion that was arranged something like a church, for there was an aisle through the middle of it, and on one side the aisle were male angels and on the other side female; but I was not sure that this was Heaven. The Virgin Mary looked at my hands and feet, and asked me if I had been washed in Jesus' blood. I told her that I had not; whereupon she turned about and bade me follow. She led the way to a door on the southern side of Heaven, which flew open at her coming. There sat God the Father on the Seat of Mercy. He looked at me from head to feet ; then He took one drop of blood in His hand and said: "With this one drop of Jesus' blood I wash thee white as snow, nor shall one drop of thy blood ever burn." I then looked at my hands and they were white and also my feet; and I found myself stand¬ ing as a statue, and white as snow, with the Virgin Mary standing at my side; but I did not see Jesus. Then I left the place with the Virgin Mary following me, and I returned to the chapel part of the building, and as I passed through, the male angels lifted their harps and began to play on them, and the female angels begun to sing. So while passing I asked the Virgin Mary what house this was, and she told me that it was the House of. Zion, where all God's disciples come. I looked again at the chorus of angels, and saw them looking upon me, and then the whole scene vanished, and I found myself again in that, same yard that before was clay and mire; but now it was solid, and I walked over it without difficulty. Down the steps I went without fear, and ere I reached the bottom awoke, and told my father what I had dreamed, and also to the people that came around me, I told my dreams, and all of them told me to keep on praying, as God worked in mysterious ways to perform His wonders. 22 The Seven Seals. Hie thing thai puzzled me most was that great wlieel; east side of which was a space that the Lord said great numbers were falling in continually, and still the room is plentiful; for it seemed to me that nothing had been burned in that place. I longed to find out still more about this, and there was lots more that I wanted to know. And strange as it may seem, I had but finished talking with the people around my bed when I found myself in a slumber wandering alone on a journey, and longing for a sight of Jesus. When 1 reached the end of my journey I saw an office, and 1 went into it, and there was Jesus, busy cutting stones in the shape of hearts, on each of which He stamped a name. I asked Him for one of the stones, and He took a piece of cord and tied a stone on each end of it and gave it to me, Avhereupon I went away rejoicing to think that the Lord was so good as to give me two stones and to others that went to Him He gave but one. I took the stones, and started east, and went but little distance when I stopped to look at the stones, that were about one-fourth of an inch thick, and white as snow. On one stone was the name of "Jesus," and "Lucy" on the other. Then I became distressed, and said to myself, "These stones surety cannot be. right." I then turned back to the office, and found the door was closed, and knocked .at the door and it flew open. I went to Jesus and gave Him the stones and said: "Lord, these stones are not right." He looked at them both, and took them away from me, and I left the office sorely grieved, to think that the Lord had taken from me that which He had given. Reluctantly I strolled a little distance with my whole heart and mind fixed on the purpose to find out some¬ thing about the stones. At last I went back to the office, the third time, and the door again was bolted; 23 The Seven Seals. but instead of knocking, I began to pray: "Oh, Lord, wilt Thou not give me a stone?" And I heard Jesus saying: "Wait but a little; I am not ready." I then went away again, but in a short while I returned, making the fourth time. This time I was suffered not to speak, as it was the fourth time; and while in a trance I was not allowed to speak more than three times on any one thing. So I stood outside the door humbly like a little beggar. But looking downward at my feet X saw a little stone on the door step. I stooped and took -it up, and heard a voice saying: "Low is the way to seek my Father's Kingdom/' and I began to pray: "Oh, Lord, what must I do with such a stone," and the answer came, "Press it to thy lips, and breathe upon it sweetly." I did as commanded, and the stone disappeared; and again vthe voice of Jesus said: "I have given thee a stone on which My name is written, and I have one on which is thine, and I will keep it; and do you take the name of Jesus with you, every¬ where you go." I aroused and told my father what I had seen, and soon after I fell asleep, and dreamed that the body of Jesus was stretched on a board, and in His side were five bleeding wounds. • I stood at His head and prayed: "Lord, wilt thou not heal that wound that I have caused to bleed in Thy side ?" Then there went to Him a man, and he stroked one wound so gently with his hand that it ceased to bleed. Then a voice said: "Thou hast healed a bleed¬ ing, wound, and I have wiped away all your sorrows. I awoke and tokl my father my dream, and thought how strange it was about the wound in Jesus' side; I wond¬ ered why He had them in His side. I asked my father about this, and why was it that all the wounds were in Jesus' side. My father told me that the Lord's way was a _very plain way of showing a sinner how to seek 24 The Seven Seals. Him; he said, perhaps if the Lord had shown you just the way He was crucified you might not have believed it. I then asked him how was Jesus crucified. I had been taught something about it, but at this time it had slipped my memory. My father told me in a way as plain as he could, for he thought that I was very sick, for I had been in the bed sick for quite a while. He told me that Jesus was born in a place called Bethlehem, and when He was twelve years old He went in the Temple, and there He talked with doctors and lawyers, and asked them many wise questions, and his mother and fatherL took Him home, and when He was about thirty years old, He was. baptized in the River of Jordan, and He began to preach, and to tell the people many wonderful things, and some believed Him, and some did not. And as far as I can remember, hi: did this three years, and the people still did not believe that He was the Messiah, and He called Himself the King of the Jews. He said the Jews were very cruel to Christ, and wanted to put Him to death by some way, so they told great stories on Him, and planned various ways in which to kill Him. At last they took Him before Pilate, and there they treated Him scornfully, and at last they cried out, "Crucify Him/' He told me they made Him hew His own cross, and besides made Him carry it lip Calvary's hill; and he said before Jesus got up the hill He fell. I then asked him was it because the cross was too heavy for Him, and he said, yes, for a colored man had to help Him carry it. "Oh," said I, "how cruel those people must have been to one who had done them no harm." My father then told me that when they got to Calvary's hill they nailed Him to the cross; one nail in each hand, and in each foot, and then thrust a spear in His side, and this made five wounds 25 The Seven Seats. about Him. I then thought if there were but five wounds about Christ, and He healed one for each sinner, there would be but five persons to heal His wounds; but I said nothing of this to my father, for fear he might think I wanted to know beyond his understanding. But I asked him if he had ever received a stone, as I did. He said not in the same manner, but all that God redeemed from hell has His name written upon the table of their hearts, and mine was.done the same way; I being hard, to believe, the Lord showed me in this plain manner, so that I would believe. I then asked: "Was it not curious about that little garden and that little grave? It seems so strange that Christ would take time with a thing that seemed impossible." My father said: "There is nothing impossible with God; for God knew all about you before you were born, my child; and when a person is redeemed from sin they are free from death, hell and the grave." I then said: "I have heard some people say that the Lord tells them to go in peace and sin no more; and if He leaves one devil in our hearts, how can we help sinning?" My father said the Lord means for us not to sin as we did before. I then wondered where the seven devils came from, and how came they in the hearts of men; but I said nothing to my father about this, for I had begun to fear that he thought me too inquisitive. The neighbors came in time after time, and, of course, I had to tell all my dreams over, and they would say: "That child has wonderful dreams." Many things occupied my thoughts; and I could not understand why that so many names were written on the dark door of hell, and with red ink; nor why that I could not see inside the door. I am not able to tell what was inside that place, but I knew the Lord had His own peculiar way of working His wonders. I reflected on the large 26 The Seven Seats. wheel in hell, and I thought: "Great are the mysteries of God." I don't see why that wheel is so tall, and why it is called a "Wheel of time." And to think of it turning once in every thousand years, it seems so very fctrange. And I was told that it is two thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine miles in height. Some may want to know how it is that I can tell the heighth of the wheel, and cannot tell the distance around it, but I can only say, I was told by the Spirit, and I have not put myself to any trouble about it at all, as it has not yet worried my mind, and I do not wonder about any¬ thing that- does not worry me. It is said that on the Old Ship of Zion at the last day will be room for many more. And so I thought about the large space on the east side of that wheel, that at the final day there would be lots of room. But I won't spend any more time talking about the wheel,. for Jesus said that a few will understand these things, and a few will believe them. Now I hope that all readers may read and understand. Some may want to know why I told my father about everything. My father is a man that is greatly interested in most everything, while my mother is more concerned about the household, and she did not have the time to sit at my bed-side much of the time. My father seemed deeply interested in all I told him, as he felt quite sure that I was about to die at that time. But I had not told my parents that I had asked the Lord to punish me for that' falsehood I had told. One day when I appeared to sleep, my father left the room, and I heard him to my mother whisper: "Sally, I fear that Lucy is not long for this world." . "What ?" exclaimed mother, astounded, "what did you say ?" And I heard her creep to my bed-side, and felt her bending over me in an attitude that said: "Farewell, 27 The Seven Seats. my eliild." They both thought I was sleeping. After this, one of the deacons of (rillfield Church, Mr. Simon Branch, of Powhatan County, Va., called in to see father; and before he left, father told hfm how ill I had been and was ; and he told him as near as he could all my dreams, and when he had finished, Mr. Branch said: "If that child would die she would go right straight to Heaven." As father is a deacon also—at Pleasant Grove Church, Powhatan County, Ya.—it would have been great comfort to him to have something interesting to tell the pastor if I had have died; and he seemed so well contented at my bed-side, waiting to hear whatever I had to tell when I aroused. But after my visions and conversations I began to get restless, and did not want to stay in bed any longer; so I prayed the Lord restore me back to health, for I wanted to go and tell what Mansions T had seen, and what things I had heard; and then I heard a voice, as plainly as though I heard it with my physical ears, telling me to wait with patience. I was calmer then, and in a few days I was well enough to walk about the room, and from that I began to go out doors a little, and my first sin was telling a falsehood, after which I was troubled; for I have heard so many say that the Lord tells us to go i n peace and sin no more. And I prayed: "Oh, Lord, forgive me for this sin, and if Thou wilt have me go in peace and sin no more, how must I do it, Lord?" Again a voice whispered, telling me that everybody born of sinful flesh, and living in a sinful world, sins. My next sin was to fall in doubt. I began to think that I was not a soldier of Christ, and did not know what to do, for I wanted to be sure about my conversion; besides I wanted to do some useful work in this world for Christ before my death; and I could not see where I was doing anything at "all. And it caused me to think 28 The Seven Seals. that I was not converted. I continued to think in this manner for a long while. Mother and father often talked with me about religion, and would tell me a Christian's duty; but this talk did not drive away my doubts. At last, one day, mother sent me away to my uncle's to carry a message. I had a long way to go, and when I had gone quite a distance I got lost, and could not see anything around me but trees, briars and leaves. I neither saw nor heard even a bird; and I did not know what to do. I was still in doubt, so at last I decided on a simple plan. I stood still and prayed: "Oh, Lord, I am full of doubt, and I am also lost, and how am I to put my trust in Thee, 0, Thou Unseen, I cannot tell. But oh, Lord, if Thou seest fit, move away my doubts by showing me the way to reach my journey's end." -Then I walked on, and soon was in sight of my uncle's home. AVI 1 en I saw the house, my doubts flew from me with the quickness of a bird, and I murmured: "How kind God is to me," and when I returned home again 1 told mother and father what I had done, and they told me that there is nothing like "Obtaining Faith." From this time my continual prayer was: "Lord, make me wise; don't let mo idle my time away." On the 15th day of March, in that year, I left home for Richmond, Va., to do housework for Mrs. Mills' family, and my eldest sister, Elizabeth, was employed in the same kind of work in the little adjoining City of Manchester, and my brother Fred worked at a restaurant at Fourth and Broad streets, in Richmond. My brother had left home without his parents' consent or knowledge. My brother Fred had a very haughty disposition, and he really thought that home was not gcfod enough for him, and because he could not dress as nice as some other boys, he began to think that his parents were not doing 29 The Seven Seals. justice by him; and by going with other bad boys, he soon set,a plan to leave home, unknown to any one. He was about seventeen years old, and had begun to think himself a man; so on "VVhit Sunday, of 1886, he. got up as usual, and did his portion of work, after which he dressed himself, and went away with some other boys, supposedly to play. As most of the children had been away to work, and it being Whit Sunday, all of them met at our home to spend the holiday. Between seven and eight o'clock in the evening, brother came home from play; it would have been better for him had he gone to Sabbath school or -to church, but I have no doubt that he spent that Sabbath day in idle thoughts, and' was persuaded by other bad boys into their bad habits. When we all had gone out into the yard to sit in the moonlight, brother Fred, began to sing all kinds of songs, and to do other things that were tormenting. And it vexed mother and father to see him act thus on a Sabbath evening, and father remarked at the time that it must have been the Devil in him. At length he ended his great glee, bade us good night, and off to bed he went. We took no more thought of him, and as the next morning was a holiday, we did not rise very early. Brother knowing this made use of the opportunity for leaving home. And when mother began to get breakfast ready she rang the rising bell,— to wake-the children as usual,—that extended from the kitchen to father's little shop, over which the boys slept. But only two of the boys were present, Henry and James; and Fred nor Abram could be found any¬ where. At first we thought they had gone out walking, as the weather was fine, but when mother had break¬ fast ready, she rang the Wteakfast bell, but the two boys did not make their appearance; but after we had finished breakfast, brother Abram came in alone. In reply to 30 The Seven Seals. the anxious query concerning Fred, he said that Fred decided to go to Richmond on the early train, and he had gone with him to the station and also several other boys. When he got on the train he had said, "Fare¬ well, boys, I am going away to a light, bright world," and that, was the last he was heard to say as the train moved out. Then father said: "What do you all think of that ?" Of course, we were somewhat shocked at his going away in that manner; but after he had been away some time he wrote to mother and father asking pardon for his action, and stated where he was working. Soon after this father went to see him, and as he was under age, he was put in the care of the people with whom be lived. But that vexed brother, and he soon got tired of staying there, so he left, and went elsewhere. The following Christmas he returned home, and stayed a short while. Mother and father both were glad to sci' the prodigal, and he gave the children, mother and father and alb small presents, of which we were very proud. He was quite cheerful all the while he was home, and left us in a cheerful humor, and told us where he expected to work, and promised to be a good boy, and try to repent his sins. This time he bade us all good-bye, and promised to come to see us when he could get off again. He was at that time working on a large farm not far from the City of Richmond, but .some time during the year of 1887 he left the farm and went to work in a restaurant at Fourth and Broad streets, Richmond, Va. He stayed there a year and some months. In 1888 I went to Richmond to work, and about the first of May brother Fred was taken ill with malarial fever, and was ill nigh unto death for two weeks in the home of Mr. and Mrs. JSTed Jefferson, who were very good and kind to him. For a time he could not' 3t The Seven Seals. lie down or sit up any length of time, as his breath was so short, and he spent the best-portion of his last hours with his head leaning on his hands in an awful agony. Besides, he was a sinner. We would talk with him time after time about his sins, and he promised that he would try to repent. I don't believe that he knew how seriously ill he was, for if he had, he would not have been so careless about his soul's salvation. He was too ill to be taken home, so my eldest sister and I went to see him as often as we could, and we supplied him with such tilings as he needed in the way of nourish¬ ment; and when he began to get so very ill, we sent for father on a Saturady, and he arrived the following (Sunday) afternoon. My sister and I were employed, and we could not stay with brother all the while, but we did all that we could for him, and when father got there I had just left. Before I left I had asked him had he ever prayed a prayer to do his soul any good. He said, "ISTo." I saw that he was fast passing away. I then said: "Brother, are you not ashamed of your¬ self ?•' His reply was: "I don't see any use of telling a falsehood about it, I am not." I then told him good¬ bye and left. When father came, brother was very glad to see him; but when father saw how ill he was, he called in the doctor again, who, on making an examination, said in reply to a question, that he feared the end would come before morning. Brother heard this, and it frightened him to think that he had but one night, or just a few hours to live, and he exclaimed: "Oh! oh! father, what must I do?" Father told him there was nothing he could do but pray to God, and ask the redemption of his soul. He then asked father to pray for him, and father knelt down at his bed-side and commenced to pray, and while he was praying brother began to repeat 32 The Seven Seals. every word after him. But father told him to pray with his heart, rather than his mouth. Many others called in to see him, and prayed for him, father said; but brother did not sleep any during that night. He seemed busily engaged in prayer, and about four o'clock in the morning he called father, and said: "I have something to tell you, but my breath is so short I can't speak now; turn me; turn my face toward the wall." Father asked him what for ? He again said: "Turn my face toward the door, so that 1 can rest easy." So father turned him over on his back, with his face toward the door, and as soon as he did this, he closed his eyes in death, at about half-past four o'clock in the morning. My brother was the oldest boy, and named "Fred¬ erick J. Smith," for his father. When he died, May 21, 1888, he was nineteen years, five months and fifteen days old. He was called "Fred" by the community. He had left home on the 21st day of May, 1886, so it was exactly two years to the day he